The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) encourage librarians from institutions of all sizes to learn what they can do to support the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3) effort to facilitate open access publishing.

An information session with Dr. Salvatore Mele, Project Leader of the Open Access Section and Interim Project Manager for SCOAP3 at the CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research, will be held at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Saturday, January 24, 2009, 10:30 a.m.-noon, at the Colorado Convention Center, Room 705. No registration is necessary to attend this event.

Find out how this experiment in new funding models is progressing, get the straight scoop on how libraries can participate, and learn about the project’s potential to inform scholarly publishing more globally. SCOAP3 is a valuable addition to the diverse mix of strategies aiming to ensure the future of high-quality journals. For background reading on why libraries should consider supporting SCOAP3, see:

• “The Audacity of SCOAP3,” an essay by Ivy Anderson, Director of Collections, California Digital Library, and “Taking Action on SCOAP3,” an article by Julia Blixrud, both in ARL: A Bimonthly Report, no. 257 (April 2008).
• ACRL letter to the organizers of SCOAP3 expressing support and encouraging ACRL members to consider joining the SCOAP3 effort when appropriate, June 2008.
• SCOAP3 Web site.